This traditional southern strawberry iced tea is perfect for the warmer months! It's a breeze to make using a simple syrup with an intense strawberry flavor that makes for a refreshing summer drink.
My summers have always stayed simple. I'm old school at heart, there's nothing better to me than sitting on my deck with a glass of strawberry iced tea, a mini charcuterie board for one, a fan, and a good book (right now I'm reading 'The Heart of Business'!) right before we get to those blistering hot summer days. It's bliss, y'all.
My favorite drink lately has been basically anything I can pour some strawberry simple syrup into, including this southern sweet iced tea. She's the perfect drink for strawberry season, but I also love it throughout the summertime and early spring, too.
A fave for Juneteenth and the fourth of July, she's the perfect party drink for the warmer weather seasons!
A perfect combination of fresh strawberry flavor and made with natural ingredients, this drink is a great way to use any old strawberries you have in the fridge and turn them into a beautiful red drink.
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Ingredients
Ripe Strawberries. You don't need to use fresh fruit, frozen works as well.
Granulated Sugar.
Cold water.
Black tea. To keep it classically southern, you'll want to use Luisianne or Lipton tea bags. Otherwise, use your favorite high-quality black tea.
A pinch of baking soda. This is the southern belle's secret to fixing any mistakes in your sweet tea. Too bitter, steeped too long, too many tannins, a little baking soda can fix that.
How to make strawberry simple syrup
Simple strawberry syrup is just that: simple. It's sugar and water boiled down to be used as a sweetener in cocktails and drinks. To make it 'strawberry', all you need is to add ripe strawberries to the mixture. You don't have to have fresh strawberries, you can use frozen ones for this since they're easily accessible any time of the year.
Pour a cup of water, cup of sugar, and two cups of strawberries into a medium saucepan. Let it come to a boil, boil for five minutes while the color and flavor turns into a delicious strawberry syrup.
How to Make this Strawberry Sweet Tea Recipe
First, make the homemade strawberry syrup. Strain the syrup into a large pitcher, discarding the slumped strawberries.
Now brew the tea in boiling water, steep for 10 minutes and discard the tea bags, then add a pinch of baking soda for flavor. Pour the brewed tea into the pitcher with the strawberry syrup.
Add ice cubes and let chill before pouring into individual glasses and serving.
Pro Tips for the Best Strawberry Iced Tea
If you're using loose leaf teas, steep it in tea strainers so the loose tea doesn't end up in the drink itself.
Instead of using granulated sugar like in a traditional southern sweet tea, you can use agave syrup, maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar to help make the strawberry syrup.
Serve with frozen strawberries instead of (or with!) ice!
Variations
Strawberry Arnold Palmer. A beautiful, fruity take on an Arnold Palmer (also called a Sun-Joy or Half-and-Half). You can just add lemonade to this recipe, lemon juice, or lemon simple syrup for a sweet-tart flavor .
Green tea. Use green tea instead of black tea for a light, earthy flavor.
Add strawberry puree to the tea for even more strawberry goodness.
Pour in a splash of vodka for a boozy twist!
Other Strawberry recipes
- The Best Strawberry Spinach Salad Ever
- Strawberry Custard Tart
- Strawberry Lemonade
- Strawberry Mojitos
- Strawberry Coffee Cake Muffins
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📖 Recipe
Strawberry Iced Tea
This traditional southern strawberry sweet tea recipe is perfect for strawberry season. It's a flavored tea that's a breeze to make using simple syrup with an intense strawberry flavor that makes for a refreshing summer drink.
Ingredients
Brew Tea
- 3 quarts boiling water
- 4 family sized black tea bags
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Ice, to preference
Strawberry Simple Syrup
- 2 cups ripe strawberries, hulled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions
For Strawberry Syrup
- In a medium saucepan, bring the cold water, strawberries, and sugar to a boil. Let boil until the sugar is completely dissolved
- Lower the temperature to medium-high heat to simmer for 5 minutes, until strawberries' color has drained into the water. Strain the strawberry syrup through a fine mesh sieve and pour it into your large pitcher.
Make Strawberry Iced Tea
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot, then turn off the heat. Add the black tea bags and let steep for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags.
- Add the baking soda and stir. Let cool for 5 minutes
- Add ice and frozen strawberries (if using) to the pitcher with the strawberry simple syrup, pour in the brewed tea, and stir well. Let chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
- To serve, add ice and/or frozen strawberries to serving glasses, then pour strawberry iced tea into glasses.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 84Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 13mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 0gSugar: 21gProtein: 0g
All nutrition facts are estimations. Please see a physician for any health-related inquiries.
Eden Westbrook is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind Sweet Tea and Thyme. A classically trained chef, Eden has inspired home cooks into the kitchen with cultural comfort foods, easy family-friendly eats and sweets, and glorious spreads for date night and entertaining since 2015.
Tony says
Made a small batch of this for date night in. My wife and I LOVED it. We keep frozen strawberries for her AM smoothies so it was easy to use in your recipe. Making this again this weekend when we have friends over. Thanks!